Flannery O’Connor once said, “…It is when the freak can be sensed as a figure for our essential displacement that he attains some depth in literature.” With this, O’Connor correctly uses the freak to symbolize her reoccurring theme of a grotesque viewpoint on the world, and such symbolism is used prominently in two of her short stories, ‘Everything That Rises Must Converge” and “Good Country People.” Within both stories, the freak awakens both the characters in the stories, and, in fact, the reader themselves, to the fact that they embody the same state as the freak.
In “Everything That Rises Must Converge,” Julian’s mother’s racism serves as the displacement in the story, while the Black characters encountered the bus ride symbolically represent the freak. Julian’s mother expresses her pity with the Black race when she states, “Most of them in it are not our kind of people, but I can be gracious to anybody. I know who I am.” Despite people having no choice in the matter when it comes to what skin color they’re born with, the mother still believes that through God, all people are c...
The novel The Garies and their Friends is a realistic examination of the complex psychology of blacks who try to assimilate through miscegenation and crossing the color barrier by “passing as white.” Frank J. Webb critiques why blacks cannot pass as being white through the characters Mr. Winston and Clarence Jr.
Jacqueline and her family aren’t treated fairly, because of the color of their skin. If they sit near the front of the bus, the driver will make them move. If there is a white person walking on the sidewalk the have to step off the curb and let
Julian's discription of his relationship with his mother, in his mind, was he viewed himself as the savior that must teach her a lesson about her outdated veiwpoints. He feels as though he needs to treat her like a "little girl" because of her ignorance of the changing times. It seems that the new generation always seems to know more about "everything" than the one before. Meaning, the old generations are not nessasarily ignorant to the changes, but they might not know any better becuse of the way they were brought up. "They (blacks) don't give a damn for your graciousness", Julian explains to his mother. The condescension of "enlightened" whites towards blacks and the resentment of blacks towards well-meaning whites will never change because "knowing who you are is good for one generation only. You haven't the foggiest idea where you stand now ...
Southern gothic is a type of literature that focuses on the harsh conflicts of violence and racism, which is observed in the perspective of black and white individuals. Some of the most familiar southern authors are William Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, and Cormac McCarthy. One author in particular, Flannery O’Connor, is a remarkable author, who directly reflects upon southern grotesque within her two short stories, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “Revelation.” These two short stories are very similar to each other, which is why I believe that O’Connor often writes with violent characters to expose real violence in the world while tying them in with a particular spiritual insight. The first short story that O’Connor refers to with southern grotesque and violence is in “A Good Man is Hard to Find.”
A story without style is like a man without personality: useless and boring. However, Flannery O’Connor incorporates various different styles in her narratives. Dark humor, irony, and symbolism are perhaps the utmost powerful and common styles in her writing. From “Revelation” and “Good Country People” to “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” all of O’Connor’s stories consist of different styles in writing.
The ambitious individuals often follow a course of action involving the persecution of their own fellow brothers and the adoption of the features of their ideal, or higher, society. In trying to push herself to a level above the black folks, Mrs. Turner, a mulatto woman who is convinced of her superi...
“The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” is a short fictional story written by Ursula K. LeGuin. Although this story contains many realistic characters and setting, there is an overall eerie vibe about the city of Omelas that makes the story unusual. Omelas is described with several vivid details that indicate the city to be a gorgeous place, yet it appears to be a sort of unrealistic utopia. After analyzing the story, it was evident that this story was written about people who are trapped in Purgatory trying to decide where to go next. Although never stated directly, LeGuin wrote this story intentionally about Purgatory, which is made clear by her use of the literary elements: imagery, point of view, and symbolism.
“Everything that Rises Must Converge” also contains two supposedly superior characters, Julian and his mother. Julian’s mother believes that she is superior because her grandfather was a former governor, a prosperous landowner with two-hundred slaves. She also believes that being white makes her superior to people of other races. She believes that those people should rise, but “on their own side of the fence” (pg. 214). Later in the story she offends a “Negro” woman by her patronizing treatment of the woman’s child. This woman is so upset that she physically attacks Julian’s mother (pg. 221). Julian also sees himself as superior. He feels superior to his mother because he does not see himself as racist. In reality he is as much a racist as his mother, but he shows his racism in a different way, seeking out those who he terms “some of the better types” to befriend (pg.
I was late for school, and my father had to walk me in to class so that my teacher would know the reason for my tardiness. My dad opened the door to my classroom, and there was a hush of silence. Everyone's eyes were fixed on my father and me. He told the teacher why I was late, gave me a kiss goodbye and left for work. As I sat down at my seat, all of my so-called friends called me names and teased me. The students teased me not because I was late, but because my father was black. They were too young to understand. All of this time, they thought that I was white, because I had fare skin like them, therefore I had to be white. Growing up having a white mother and a black father was tough. To some people, being black and white is a contradiction in itself. People thought that I had to be one or the other, but not both. I thought that I was fine the way I was. But like myself, Shelby Steele was stuck in between two opposite forces of his double bind. He was black and middle class, both having significant roles in his life. "Race, he insisted, blurred class distinctions among blacks. If you were black, you were just black and that was that" (Steele 211).
Director Tod Browning was a product of circus life. He grew up in the circus with manic clowns, hairy women and human deformity all lined up for our entertainment, so he sheds a bit of light on the reality of our idea of what is freakish and what is normal. The film begins with disclaimer about its subject matter set up in the format that would later be adopted and tweaked just a bit by Star Wars. He calls this film a “Highly Unusual attraction” keeping with the circus theme of the film. We have a history of beasts of abnormal birth and who did not fit into society such as Frankenstein, Tom Thumb, Thumbelina, Goliath and Nosferatu. These things were all feared but they also fascinated us. Tod Browing goes on to explain that It's a natural urge to be beautiful across all species. To carry your genetics into the next generation, you had to be a desirable partner and abnormalities just won't cut it. Judging the so called freaks has been going on for thousands of years and it's a taught habit. There is an emphasis put on the freaks code to stick together, as it reads “ the hurt of one is the hurt of all; the joys of one is the joys of all” showing there is a deep need to stick together in a world against them. He ends this opening with “We present the most startling horror story of the abormal and the unwanted.” The word “abonormal” and the phrase “the unwanted” are both in bold. I take this as an emphasis on the circus performers who are deformed, mentally impaired and otherwise mutilated and it puts in a nutshell how many people have labeled them and others like them for thousands of years.
The book “Freak The Mighty” follows one main them, to never judge a book by its cover, or in the case shown in the book to never judge a person base on appearance. This book I feel captures this theme very well. There are many times this theme shows itself throughout the book, especially when introducing new characters.
A main theme in this novel is the influence of family relationships in the quest for individual identity. Our family or lack thereof, as children, ultimately influences the way we feel as adults, about ourselves and about others. The effects on us mold our personalities and as a result influence our identities. This story shows us the efforts of struggling black families who transmit patterns and problems that have a negative impact on their family relationships. These patterns continue to go unresolved and are eventually inherited by their children who will also accept this way of life as this vicious circle continues.
In my view, I doubt whether we have misread McCullers’s concern with the deformed people, these “monstrous” characters. We could not explore the flourishing connotation of freakish figures through its correspondence with essence in existentialism. Nor could we simply validate these characters as the product of the exaggeration on loneliness and failure in gaining love. Because these interpretations seem to reduce the aesthetic distinction that McCullers creates. Furthermore, these interpretations “involve a certain sacrifice: they tend to lose humanity, becoming symbols rather than people” (Evans, 302). William Van O’Connor’s accounts for the grotesque in southern writing as a response to a world of violence and upheaval, is highly reasonable
The freak is not merely a figure subjected to oppression, but yet an uncanny figure that’s appealing as it exceeds the borders of self-identity. Tod Browning’s 1932 movie called Freaks ultimately put an end to his career. The film uses real carnival sideshow performers with deformities to disclose how “freaks” are the normalized and trusting figures while the “normal” members of the circus are delineated as the real monsters that exploit the freaks for their own desires and benefits. The film manifests the freak as a spectacular body that’s repulsive yet fascinating paralleling to the objectification of a monster.
In Winesburg, Ohio, Sherwood Anderson writes an allegorical account of the failure of mankind (1919). Although Anderson depicts rural life in the "New World," his understanding of human nature and descriptive terminology provide a valuable framework for examining Joyce's rendition of urban misery in the "Old World." "The Book of the Grotesque," the opening piece of Anderson's short story collection, animates the thoughts of a dying old man: